86 EXCURSION INTO THE INTERIOR. [1823. 



fine ; the soil being rich and mellow, and not less than eighteen inches 

 in depth. The valleys are clothed with luxuriant verdure ; the clover- 

 fields of Pennsylvania, if suffered to go a few seasons unmowed, 

 would alone furnish a parallel. This clover was so completely matted 

 and entangled that it was difficult to determine its actual height ; but 

 it was certainly not less than two feet. On the banks of the river are 

 copper, lead, and iron ore, of which I obtained specimens. Some fine 

 wood is also found here, two kinds of which I examined. One was red, 

 and the other a bright yellow ; the grain of each very fine. 



The valleys are seldom visited by the frost or snow, so that the ber- 

 ries are found on the bushes all the winter, without being touched by 

 the frost. There are some streams descending to this river which 

 would make fine mill-seats. I found the country very pleasant from 

 Point Negro to this place ; undulating in hills and dales, and covered 

 with groves, flowers, clover, and grass of various kinds. Many of 

 the flowers were not inferior in beauty or fragrance to those which 

 are cultivated in our gardens. I am not, however, sufficiently ac- 

 quainted with the science of botany to describe them. In short, if 

 this land was in possession of a civilized industrious people, who 

 well understood the theory and practice of agriculture, I have no 

 doubt that it would become, in a very few years, one of the finest 

 countries in the world, as the inhabitants would be far more moral 

 and happy than if every thing grew spontaneously to their hand. We 

 cannot know the real value of any thing unless we labour for it. This 

 fact converts the original curse into the greatest earthly blessing. 



Having passed through Magellan's Strait six times, at different 

 seasons, and always with sufficient leisure to examine the natural pro- 

 ductions of the country, the result of my observations is a conviction 

 that the Spanish navigator Cordova has given a more correct descrip- 

 tion of the plants, trees, and animals on the northern border of the 

 strait than any other writer. But he did not sufficiently penetrate 

 into the interior, which abounds with productions that are unknown in 

 the vicinity of the shore. It was my misfortune, however, to be des- 

 titute of scientific aid in all my researches, or I am confident that Cor- 

 dova's catalogue might have been much enlarged. 



We anchored in the harbour of Port Famine at four o'clock, P. M., 

 in the afternoon of Saturday, the third of May, corresponding to the 

 third of our November — a month distinguished in the United States by 

 a period of mild, soft, pleasant weather, called the Indian summer. 

 The weather at our anchorage, on Saturday evening, so forcibly re- 

 minded me of this peculiar period, that I determined to make an 

 excursion into the country in search of valuable die-woods and mine- 

 rals, and to see if these southern forests wore the same variegated 

 dress in autumn as distinguishes our own at that season. I therefore 

 selected as my companions three worthy and intelligent young men, 

 viz. Messrs. John Simmons, William Cox, and Charles Cox, all natives 

 of New- York, where they are yet citizens. 



Having given the necessary instructions to my first officer, and 

 ascertained that we were all well armed and equipped, we started on 

 our expedition towards the southern extremity of the lofty Andes. Our 



